ACTion News 5/16/07
-by Justin St. Louis

If you were at Thunder Road on Sunday, you were almost certainly reminded of the adage It aint over til its
over.  Hometown Barre, VT boy Nick Sweet, at just 22, has established himself as a driver to watch as the years
go by.  Veteran Joey Laquerre, 63 of nearby East Montpelier, has likely won more races in his career than Sweet
has even been a part of.  Their battle in the Casella Waste Management Mothers Day 100 was a classic display of
new school versus old school, of patience, of class, and of edge-of-your-seat-thrilling stock car racing.

Sweet dominated the first half of the race, much as he did on opening day at The Road.  A lap 55 caution tightened
the field, and allowed second-place man Laquerre to draw even with Sweet.  A few dicey moves after the green flag
enabled Laquerre to dive underneath Sweet and take the lead on lap 59.  From there, it was an all-out battle of
timing, reading lapped traffic, using up just the right amount of race track, and playing some head games.  Sweet
tried in vain to pass Laquerre using the high groove, diving into the low groove, splitting lapped cars three-
wide, and eventually laying the bumper on Laquerre in a last-lap effort to get the win.

Unfortunately, Sweet used a little too much bumper, and nearly threw it all away for Laquerre in the final
corner.  Sweet backed off to allow Laquerre to straighten his car out, and third-place driver Craig Bushey rushed
in to pick up the pieces.  In a razor-close finish, Laquerre out-drag raced Bushey to the line to earn the win by
a half-car length as Sweet finished third.

And the crowd loved it.

(Nick) kept trying these Dale Earnhardt moves on me, said Laquerre, who was joined in victory lane by his
grandson, Jared.  I had to protect the lead.  At the end, I saw the 05 car (Bushey) coming fast, and thats when
I thought I was in trouble.  Weve won this race two years in a row now, and Im glad Casella keeps coming back to
put the race on.

If I hadnt backed off and let Joey save it, I would have been black flagged, said Sweet.  I didnt want to
wreck him, I just wanted him to know I was there.  Sweet then showed that maybe there is hope for the younger
generation after all, proving that veterans can still teach the kids how to do it right.

Its disappointing that we didnt get to win, but I had the most fun Ive ever had in a race car.  I had nothing
to gain by wrecking Joey.  Hes a great racer and he knows the line.  He knows what he needs to do to win.  When I
figure out how to pass him, Ill be a better racer.

You wont see better or more respectful racing anywhere in the country than you saw by Joey Laquerre and Nick
Sweet on Sunday at Thunder Road.

***

Continuing with the kids make good theme, Ryan Nolin of Georgia, VT became the third-youngest first-time winner
on the ACT Late Model Tour when he copped the win in the 33rd annual Furniture World of Vermont Spring Green 100
at Plattsburgh, NYs Airborne Speedway on Saturday night.  At 20 years, six months, and 25 days of age, Nolin
passed perennial Tour King Jean-Paul Cyr for the lead on lap 43, then fended off Cyr and later Airborne ace Brent
Dragon over seven tension-filled restarts to claim his stake of one of ACTs longest running traditions.

Had he not run out of green flag laps, Dragon likely would have given Nolin a run for his money for the win, but
had to settle for second.  Cyr gave it all he had on the high side (and a couple times down low), but finished a
frustrating third.  Brian Hoar finished fourth after having a quiet run from 15th on the grid, and Oxford winner
Randy Potter turned in a great run in fifth place.  Potter hadnt seen the Airborne half-mile since 1998, and
started 21st in the field.

Nolin joins Cyr, Dragon, and Hoar on the list of past champions in the event, along with legendary racers
including Dave Dion, Robbie Crouch, Beaver and Bobby Dragon, and Jean-Paul Cabana, who served as this years Grand
Marshall of the Furniture World of Vermont Spring Green 100.

***

Congratulations, and thanks to all of our racing mothers and official moms at the Casella Waste Management
Mothers Day Extravaganza at Thunder Road on Sunday. 

Erin Delphia, wife of fifth-place Casella 100 finisher Brian, made Race Director Tom Curley sweat a little in the
control tower.  Delphia was great at her post, and Curley reportedly wonders if hell still have a job come
Memorial Day.  Kim Whitcomb, wife of Power Shift Junkyard Warrior driver David, worked her tail off in the pit
area as Director of Competition.  Whitcomb was responsible for race lineups, tech inspection, and all the fun
things that DOC Dean Gallison takes care of on a regular basis.

Wendy Moody and Kim Hamlin were good additions to the flag stand, Donna Burnham held things down at the back gate,
and Karen Bushey and Sue Tillotson showed Bob Bigelow a thing or two behind the wheel of the Pace Car.

More than 20 women were entered into a random draw to compete in a special event at the Nations Site of
Excitement.  Eight lucky ladies strapped into some Warrior machines, and turned a whale of a performance.

Former dirt bike racer Linda Godfrey of Essex Jct., VT proved that she can do it just as well on four wheels as
she can on two by winning the Mamas Race from dead last at the start.  Lynn St. Louis (my big sister) came home
in second place after running three-wide with Cindy Hill and Beverly McAllister.  Kim Hart of Barre ended up in
third place after making some sensational passes in traffic.  Cindy Sartell, Leigh Clark (mother of Late Model
driver Brooks Clark), and a frazzled-but-okay Holly Blair also took part in the race.

By the way, theres a little bit of a jealousy issue here, too, as the trophy my sister Lynn was given in victory
lane trumps most of what my father and I earned in our driving careers.  Oh well, good for her, she and all of the
other moms have worked hard and deserve some appreciation every now and then.

So from all of us at ACT and Thunder Road, thank you to all the moms that came to the races on their special day,
and thanks for all that you do every other day of the year!

***

Did you know?

-Ryan Nolin became the third-youngest first-time ACT Late Model Tour winner on Saturday night at 20 years, six
months, and 25 days old.  So who were the two guys that beat him?  Brian Hoar earned his first win in 1992 at 20
years, two months, and 26 days.  Ironically enough, the victory was at Airborne Speedway.  The youngest-ever
winner, though, was Scarborough, MEs Ryan Moore, who won in his first career ACT start at his home track at
Oxford Plains Speedway in 2001.  Moore was 17 years, eight months, and 21 days old at the time, and scored two
wins the next season at age 18.

-Nolins Spring Green victory adds to a long tradition in the event: In one way or another, 14 drivers have scored
their first career wins in the race since its inception in 1974.  Beaver Dragon won the race in 1979, when it was
held at Catamount Stadium in Milton, VT.  Granted, Dragon had won many races before, including the Spring Green,
but it was the first-ever event for what became the ACT Pro Stock Tour.  Therefore, Dragon scored his first career
Tour win.  The same scenario took place in 1980 with Mike Barry and in 1981 with Jean-Paul Cabana.  Claude
Leclerc, Tom Glaser, and Joey Kourafas followed suit in 1983-85, and rookie Paul Richardson won in 1987.  When the
present-day ACT Late Model Tour took over the event in 1996 at Airborne, Pete Fecteau earned his first ACT win. 
Steve Renaudette and Chris Fisher were right behind in 1997-98, followed by Todd Stone and Jacob McGrath in 2001-
02.  Robin Wood scored his first ACT Tiger Sportsman Series win in the Spring Green in 2005, and now Nolin is a
winner on the ACT Late Model Tour in 2007.

-Piloting a front-wheel drive Dodge Daytona, rookie Bobby Therrien of Hinesburg won the Allen Lumber Street Stock
feature at Thunder Road on Sunday.  Dating back to last September, that makes four-straight wins for
the pullers, and five out of six since August.  Also scoring wins in the FWD brigade were Bruce Melendy, Mike
Martin, and Track Champion Eric Badore, who earned two wins during that time.

The Série ACT Castrol begins its first season on Saturday with a 100-lap contest at Québecs Autodrome Montmagny. 
Québec racers Donald Theetge, Karl Allard, Alexandre Gingras, Claude Leclerc, and Kevin Roberge raced at Airborne
Speedway last weekend, and ready to race in their homeland with ACT.  We encourage you to make the trip north of
the border and enjoy some Canadian stock car racing!  If you need information about the Montmagny 100, call (802)
244-6963, or visit www.acttour.com.  There is a link to the Série ACT Castrol website on our homepage.